


The Great Escape

by MayaShea



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series), Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, F/M, No superheroes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-02
Updated: 2015-03-30
Packaged: 2018-03-16 01:27:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3469271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayaShea/pseuds/MayaShea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dick Grayson's finally done with high school, and he wants nothing more than to put his past behind him once and for all. When an unexpected passenger finds herself going down the same path as him, however, will it change what little plans he has in store for his future? Alternate universe; no powers, no heroes. Dick/Kory</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey world! It's been a pretty long time since I've put together a fanfic and I figured I'd try and get some of my inspiration for writing back. This particular story is an idea I've had in my head for a little while and scrapped and re-written a couple of times, so I hope you'll come to enjoy it. This beginning part is just kind of a set-up for the main story! Um...yeah! So. I'll try to update regularly. My schedule can be somewhat unreliable at times but I want this to be good. I'm committed to this. Please let me know how you like it! Thanks!
> 
> (this fic is also available to read on my fanfiction.net account, korianderss)

He was staring again.

He couldn't help it.

It was so easy to get distracted in math class, especially when the school year was nearly over. On Monday his grade would be graduating. Almost everyone was excited about it except him. He was itching to be free, of course, but the actual graduation ceremony was a completely different story.

Bruce would be there, and that meant the press would be too. _Paparazzi_ at a high school graduation. It was absolutely ridiculous. The man was his guardian, and he cared about him, but the constant stress of being in the public eye was overwhelming, to say the least.

He was already making plans to move away once this was all done. He hadn't told Bruce, but he had a feeling he already knew. Even if he didn't, this was something he had to do, and he legally couldn't be restricted from doing so now that he was 18. Living in Gotham was becoming less and less desirable with each passing day, and being labelled as “Bruce Wayne's entrepreneur in training” in every magazine across the country wasn't a role he wanted to continue to fill. He hadn't decided where he was going to go yet, but he had a car; a black Mustang Shelby GT 500 with two blue stripes on the front, and it had more than enough miles on it to go wherever he wanted. Living in Bruce's shadow wasn't enough for him anymore. He was intent on proving he could shape his own future, be his own man.

...But he was going to miss being in this class everyday, looking at _her_.

Kory Anders. Also 18. She was a transfer student from Bolivia, and she had only lived in Gotham and attended high school here for about a year. Math was the only class they had together, although they sometimes passed each other in the hall when she was going to gym class. Her desk was diagonally to the right of where he sat, and ever since she had moved here his ability to pay attention to the teacher had been constantly declining (although he never really paid attention to the guy in the first place).

Her skin was the most beautiful shade of golden brown he had ever seen, and her long, wavy hair was dyed a bright red. Recently she had added orange dye to some of the bottom layers of her hair, (he looked up the style on the internet and learned they were called 'peekaboo' streaks) and now it looked like fire. The emerald color of her eyes was often accompanied by various green accessories, which popped against a sea of purple clothes in her wardrobe. She constantly looked like a fairy princess, or a mermaid, or some other kind of fantasy creature. He admired it. He admired her. Especially since there weren't a lot of other people at their school who dared to stand out as much as she did.

They hadn't talked very much, but he had gotten to know her a little bit. She wasn't very social with people she didn't know well because she wasn't entirely fluent in English yet, and when he did get the chance to talk to her, he noticed she struggled with finding the correct words to say in a conversation.

From what she had told him about herself during their brief encounters, he learned that she had an older sister and a younger brother (who also went to their school, but he was a freshman), and that she was seemingly enamored with astronomy. He didn't know much about space himself, besides the basics, but hearing the enthusiasm in her voice when she spoke about black holes and the Andromeda galaxy made him want to investigate the science further.

Not that it would matter much if he decided to do that now. He doubted he'd see her again after graduation. Maybe in the future he'd find another gorgeous, intelligent, bright redheaded girl who wouldn't be interested in him because of his fame or his family's money. He couldn't stop himself from letting out a sigh.

“...Mr. Grayson? Care to return from the clouds and take a guess at the answer for the problem on the board?”

All heads turned to face him, and he felt his cheeks begin to burn up in embarrassment as he quickly diverted his attention to the front of the classroom. _Crap_.

“Uh...” His eyes darted around the chalkboard and down at the textbook on his desk, but the material didn't match up. The rest of the class had obviously moved on from where he had his book open to. “Twenty-five?”

A few people chuckled quietly as the teacher made an unamused kind of humming noise and searched through his desk drawers for a pink piece of paper.

“It's quite a shame I've got to write up a detention slip this late into the year, Richard.” He said, motioning for the boy to come over as he scribbled down information.

Aware that everyone was still looking at him, he collected his slip in silence and sat back down at his seat, leaning his head in one hand.

_Five more days. It's only five more days._

 

/ / /

 

She noticed he was the last one to get out of class.

He took his time gathering his textbook and his backpack, and she had looked over her shoulder while she was walking out of the room just in time to notice that he was receiving some sort of lecture from their teacher, presumably about getting in trouble. Poor guy. He seemed nice enough.

The halls were wild in the middle of periods. Everyone was so focused on getting into their lockers and getting back out as fast as they could that nobody ever bothered to take a second and actually look where they were going. It stressed her out immensely, but she understood why. Being even the slightest bit late to your class was inexcusable; instant detention. A few teachers made exceptions, but it was rare to be shown mercy in an American public high school, she had come to learn. Luckily this was a lesson she hadn't needed to be taught twice, she hadn't been late to a class since her first day at school.

She stopped walking when she made it to her locker, and reached up to fiddle with the lock on it. Once it was open, she dumped out a couple of books she wouldn't be needing for the rest of the day and grabbed her bag of gym clothes with a smile. Gym was her favorite, she had always been so good at it. In other classes, she still found herself unable to completely grasp the way information was taught in a country different than the one she was raised in, but strength and stamina were universal concepts.

When she closed her locker, someone was standing next to her. If it were anybody else, she would have been startled, but this was something she was used to by now.

“Raven!”

“Hey.”

Raven had been a friend of hers for a while, they started getting to know each other about a month or two after Kory moved to Gotham. She was a quiet, solemn girl who enjoyed wearing the same blue hoodie on a regular basis. It made her feel comfortable, Kory supposed. She was pale with dark purple hair that was cut short near the back of her neck and fell slightly below her chin at the front of her face, and she enjoyed wearing various shades of dark lipstick, though some days she opted not to wear any makeup at all. She wasn't entirely sure how they had become friends, but she enjoyed the company, even if Raven didn't always have a lot to say.

Kory quickly stuffed her gym clothes into her messenger bag and put the strap over her shoulder before moving to stand by the other girl's side. They began to make their way towards the gymnasium as they talked.

“Are you excited about the ceremony on Monday?”

“Excited's...not the word I would use.” Raven replied, her gaze staring ahead of her as she spoke.

“Oh.” Kory said, still sporting a smile on her face. “I am much excited. I cannot believe how long it has been since I have moved here already!” There was no response, so she continued talking. “I believe all the members of my family will be attending. It will be our first celebration together in a long time. That is why I am excited.”

“I don't know if my dad's coming or not.” Raven said. “I don't want him to, so he probably will." 

Kory smile faded now. “I am sorry.”

Raven shrugged.

After a slightly awkward moment of silence, Kory spoke up again, attempting to change the topic to something lighter. “Do you have the idea of what you would like to do after your schooling is finished?”

“I'm kind of...into the idea of medical school. Maybe.”

“That would be a glorious choice for you, Raven. You could help many people.”

“Yeah.” Raven mumbled, shifting her vision to her feet and taking a second to smile to herself. “I don't know. They might not even take someone like me.”

“Why would they not do the taking of you?”

She shrugged again. “I'm...alternative. I guess. There aren't a lot of doctors or nurses with purple hair.”

“Then you shall be the first!” Kory said, halting as the two approached the gymnasium doors. “Do not allow the social restrictions of others to stop you from becoming who it is you want to be.”

Raven turned to face the other and stared at her for a moment. 

“I wish I had your kind of optimism, Kory.” She said softly, opening the door to let them both in.

The gym was already almost full of students shuffling for the locker rooms to get changed, and Kory recognized another familiar face amongst the crowd heading for the girls' room.

“Donna!” She called out, slightly embarrassing her less outgoing friend, who, at this point, decided she was going to head towards the locker room on her own. Kory took no offense. Sometimes Raven needed a bit of time to herself.

Donna's head pivoted around at the sound of her name being called, her thick, dark hair swinging around and whipping her in the face as she did so. Kory giggled and followed the girl into the locker room.

“Have you seen Vic at all today?” Donna asked, finding a bench to sit on while she pulled her regular shirt over her head and replaced it with her athletic wear.

“Victor?” Kory echoed, slipping out of the boots she had on and putting on a pear of sneakers instead. “I have not. Why?”

Donna shrugged. “I think he's been sick or something, he hasn't been here in a couple of days.”

“I hope he is well enough to attend the graduation ceremony.”

“I'm sure he will be.” Donna said, now fully dressed in a red t-shirt and matching red shorts, both of which had gold stars lining the sides of them. She put her hair up into a ponytail and grabbed a bottle of water from her book bag.

“If you are concerned about his well-being, you could always attempt to contact Garfield about him. I am sure he would know where Victor has been.”

“Yeah, probably.” Donna chuckled. “Those two are, like, practically attached at the hip.”

Once Kory finished dressing (purple crop top, white tank underneath, and a pair of purple shorts), they joined the rest of the class in the main gym just in time to see the teacher and a couple of students setting up a volleyball net in the middle of the room.

“Aw, man! This would have been so fun with him on our team, too.” Donna made a pouty face, and Kory had to contain herself from laughing at it. She looked like a sad puppy. “Oh well.”

“You and I will have to do the kicking of butt on our own, then.” She responded, and Donna smiled big, raising her hand to give Kory a high-five.

Her eyes trailed over to Raven, who was sitting on the bleachers at the far side of the room, and she attempted to make a motion with her hands for her other friend to join them, but the hooded girl just shook her head and looked away. Kory's face sobered. Maybe she was having a bad day? Should she push her friend to join them and try to cheer her up? Probably not. Raven didn't like to be pushed.

Donna mumbled something to her, but she was now distracted with her thoughts.

 

/ / /

 

“Master Dick, welcome home.”

“Thanks, Al.”

“Master Bruce would like to have a word with you in his study, if you will.”

Dick froze. This was definitely either about the detention, his graduation, or his plans afterwards, and none of those were topics he wanted to discuss with Bruce right now. He groaned as he walked past the foyer and made his way into the living room, collapsing face first onto a nearby sofa, and mumbled something into the pillow his face was smushed into.

“I didn't quite catch that.”

He lifted his head and sat up. “I said I'd rather just sit here and slowly die, if that's okay.”

“I'm not entirely sure Master Bruce would be satisfied with that decision.”

Dick ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “I'll go see what he wants. I just...need a second.”

“Would you perhaps like a glass of water, or some tea?”

“Water would be great.” He turned to face the man, who nodded in response and began to disappear into the kitchen. “Thanks.”

When the butler returned, he placed a coaster on the coffee table in front of the sofa and placed the glass of water onto that. Dick took a couple sips and a deep breath before forcing himself to get up and move his legs towards Bruce's study.

Maybe this wasn't going to be as painful as he was making it out to be. He probably didn't even know about the whole detention thing, anyways. For all he knew, Dick was probably just out late hanging out with some friends after school.

...Friends. He didn't exactly have a lot of them.

All right, maybe that _wasn't_ what Bruce thought.

He opened the door to the study and cautiously entered the room. Bruce was sitting at a desk, seemingly looking over some kind of paperwork and punching numbers into a calculator when he suddenly became aware he wasn't the only person there and swiveled around in his chair. Dick felt shivers run down his neck. The guy was like a ninja, sometimes.

“You took your time coming home today.”

So much for a painless discussion.

“Uh...yeah. Sorry.” Dick said, placing a hand behind his head. “Went out to get some burgers with a couple of friends after school." 

“Oh?” Bruce said, leaning back in his chair. “Which friends?”

“You know...” His mind was drawing a blank. Who did he even really hang out with, anyways? “...Vic?”

“Right, Victor. How's he doing?”

“He's good. Doing good.”

“Really? That's odd,” Bruce stood up. “He just had to reschedule a fitting for his new WayneTech prosthetics because he's fighting off a virus.”

Dick chewed his lip.

“I hope you didn't catch anything when you saw him.”

“Bruce,” Dick said, feeling defeated. “What do you want?”

“I heard you got detention today.”

“Boy, good news travels fast." 

“What's going on?”

Dick's expression grew serious. “What do you mean?”

“You've been distant, distracted, you're getting detention five days before you graduate from high school because you're not paying attention in class. What's going on?”

He didn't exactly know how to respond. He looked at his feet. “I don't know. I'm stressed, okay?”

“Why?”

“I'm...stressed about graduation.” He re-focused on Bruce's face again. “Are you gonna be there?”

“Of course I am.”

“See, like...that's what I'm stressed about.” He started. “I don't want press to be at my graduation. I don't want everyone else to crowd around me and gush over my multi-millionaire dad. I don't want anybody to come up to me with a camera and a notebook and ask me what my big plans are or if I'm going to run your company when I'm older.”

“Dick-”

“Seriously! I'm sick of it! I'm sick of it all.” Dick interrupted, his voice growing louder. “I'm overwhelmed! I'm just trying to live my life and I feel like everything I do gets reported on or-”

“Dick." 

Dick paused, Bruce's tone was stern.

“If you don't want me to go, just tell me." 

“Yes! I mean...no.” He put a hand on his forehead in frustration. “I don't know.”

“If I don't go, there will be press about you and I being in a feud, which I assume would only draw more attention to you.” Bruce said. “If I do, I can divert any press or reporters to myself and try to stay out of your way for most of the day. It's your call.”

Dick was silent.

“Is it?” He asked softly. “Is it really my call? Because I have a feeling whatever I choose, you're going to end up doing whatever's more convenient for you.”

Bruce said nothing in response, and Dick let out a chuckle and shook his head, beginning to turn back towards the door. 

“I shouldn't even have to make any 'calls'. I'm tired of being in your shadow.”

He made a point of slamming the door shut when he left.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two souls begin to walk towards the same path.

"Do you even know how ridiculous that looks on you?"

Kory glanced at her sister, Kim, in the mirror that stood in front of her as she finished dressing in her graduation robes. Kim was three years older than she was, and she always seemed like she wanted to start a fight with everyone. The two shared a bedroom in the somewhat small home that her family lived in now, and if there was one person who detested that more than Kory, it was Kim.

Kory turned around to face her sister, who was sitting at her computer text chatting somebody on Skype.

" _No actúes como si no fueras-_ "

" _English,_ Kory." Kim turned around in her desk chair, looking unamused. "If I can learn how to speak it fluently, you can too."

"Fine." Kory responded, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Do not act like you were not dressed in the same clothes just a few years before me. You are not superior to-"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Her sister spun back towards her computer and continued typing out her previous conversation. "I just remembered I don't care."

With a roll of her eyes, Kory turned her attention back to the mirror and adjusted the position of her cap. She knew Kim was just trying to get under her skin, but she thought she looked nice. She certainly  _felt_  nice, that was for sure. It had been a long, difficult road transitioning from life in Bolivia to life in America. It was still challenging, but she felt as if this day proved to herself how far she had come in such a short period of time.

The robes and the cap were white with black trim, to match her school's colors. Apparently, the boys' robes were the opposite, but she hadn't seen it herself yet. She couldn't contain the smile that was growing on her face. Finally, after such a long time, her whole family was going to be able to celebrate something together in the same house.

Originally, they had all lived together in Bolivia, but her parents divorced when she was five. Her mother obtained custody of her sister, while she and her brother, Ryan, continued to live in their house with their father. Eventually, her mother decided to move to America with Kim, and the rest of them didn't follow until her parents reconciled their relationship via the internet, and now they all lived here.

Donna once told her that her family's story had reminded her of the plot to a classic movie...but she couldn't remember what it was called.

Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the sound of Kim closing her laptop and practically jumping out of her desk chair to retrieve her leather jacket that was hanging on the back of the door to their room. She then stopped in front of the mirror Kory stood at and leaned in close, applying a coat of deep red lipstick to her lips.

"What are you doing?"

Kim raised a pierced eyebrow at her sister through the reflection. "None of your beeswax."

Kory didn't understand what that phrase meant, but she didn't want to ask.

"Are you leaving?"

"Uh-huh."

"Why?" Kory asked, but her sister didn't respond and instead headed towards the door. "Are you going to be back in time for the ceremony?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be there, whatever!" Kim called out as she dashed through the hallway. In the distance, Kory could hear her parents echoing the same questions and getting just as thorough of a response as she did.

She slowly tried to talk herself down from the nervousness she could feel creeping up in the back of her mind. So what if her sister wouldn't be there? It wouldn't be the end of the world. At least everyone else would show up. It's not like she needed  _or_  wanted Kim's support, anyways.

Taking a deep breath, she forced a smile back onto her face.

"Kory?"

Her head turned to face the doorframe. Ryan stood there, and he offered a small wave, to which she returned the gesture.

" _Can I come in?_ " He asked, in Spanish. Ryan wasn't nearly as fluent in English as his siblings were, but as a result it made talking to him more comfortable for Kory because she wasn't expected to translate in her head like she was with others.

" _Of course_." She responded, slipping back into her native language.

" _Are you nervous?_ "

Kory bit her lip. " _Yes. Is it that obvious?_ "

" _Kind of_." Ryan replied, chuckling a bit. " _You shouldn't be, though. I've heard these kind of things are pretty easy. You just have to collect the diploma and sit around, for the most part._ "

" _I know,_ " She said. " _I just...really want this to go well._ "

" _It will._ " Ryan said, placing a supportive hand on his sister's shoulder. " _It'll be great._ "

 

/ / /

 

Bruce was here.

Of course he was.

Dick figured that maybe after the argument the two had engaged in a few nights before, he wouldn't have to worry about seeing him show up, but now he realized how ridiculous of an idea that was. He wasn't going to miss his son's graduation ceremony because of a silly fight, or Dick's concerns about reporters showing up.

One thing was for sure, they were  _definitely_ showing up. He could see it all from where he stood in the field behind the school with everybody else. His guardian was arriving in a limo, dressed up all fancy as if he was going to a formal dinner. A few paparazzi were gathered around him, flashing pictures of him as he walked closer to where the festivities were being held. Dick turned away from the scene, attempting not to make eye contact and instead focusing his attention at the growing crowd. A lot of people's families were already here and filling up most of the chairs lined up in the field, which meant they'd probably be starting things soon.

He fiddled with his thumbs anxiously, already eager for this to be over.

"Yo, Dick!"

A figure emerged from the mass of students, wearing a black robe and cap identical to his. Dick scanned the environment for the person and recognized it to be his friend Victor, who was being trailed by another mutual friend Garfield, and Donna, who he knew from a few classes they had together.

"Vic! What's up?" Dick responded, closing the distance between the group so they didn't have to shout. "How've you been?"

"Had a nasty stomach thing goin' on, but it's all good now."

"Yeah, I heard." Dick said, before noticing the difference in Victor's appearance. The normal prosthetics he wore for his hands had been replaced with something new. These ones resembled the hands of a robot more than his previous ones had. They were black with electric blue accenting the joints in the fingers, and suddenly it hit him that Victor had gotten replacement prosthetics made custom for him by WayneTech. "Hey, those look awesome."

"What, these?" Victor replied with a smirk, obviously proud of his new hands as he struck a 'thinking man' type of pose. "Finally got 'em the other day. Tell your dad I'm beyond stoked when you get the chance."

Dick sighed, glancing back towards the entrance of the field where Bruce was still talking to the press. "I will."

Victor's goofy expression disappeared from his face. "Somethin' wrong?"

Diverting his attention back to the group in front of him, he shook his head and plastered a smile back onto his face. "'Nah. It's nothing."

Victor remained skeptical, and behind him, Garfield and Donna exchanged a nervous glance, both wanting to avoid any kind of dramatic conversation. Garfield cleared his throat.

"So, uh, anyone got any big celebration plans for later today?" He said, attempting to change the topic. "Vic and I are gonna party at the pizza place around the corner, hit the arcade games, blast some dance music on the jukebox. You know that place still has one of those things?"

Victor began to pick up the hint that it was probably best not to pry on Dick's personal issues right now, so he reverted his mood back into excitement mode and gave Garfield a high five. "All you can eat pizza buffet!"

Donna giggled, and Dick tried his best to pretend he wasn't completely distracted from the conversation.

"What about you, Don, got anything fun planned?"

She shook her head. "Not really. I think I'm probably in for an afternoon filled with endless photo ops. I doubt I'll even be able to take the robe off until I go to sleep." She said, jokingly, and all eyes turns toward Dick. "How about you?"

"Uh," Dick struggled to re-wind time in his head and try to remember what Donna had just said. "I-"

"Friends!"

A fifth voice called out from amongst the crowd, quickly sprinting over to where they all stood. Dick froze, immediately recognizing the slight accent of the voice, and awkwardly turning his head to look in a different direction. He silently hoped nobody else was paying attention to his sudden fixation of a bush on the ground.

"Kory!" Donna was the first to speak, but the others all joined together for a quick group hug. "Wow. You look great."

Kory's face flushed slightly at the compliment, and she brushed a clump of thick, wavy hair over her shoulder. "Thank you. As do all of you."

"We were just talking about stuff we might do after all this." Victor said. "Gar and I are throwin' a pizza party later, you're totally welcome to join in, if you want."

"I...cannot. I am supposed to be having a small celebration with my family later today." Kory said, catching a glance back towards the almost full seats. "They have not arrived."

"I'm sure they'll be here soon, dude, don't worry." Garfield said, before noticing his silent friend who seemed to be having a conversation of his own with a shrub. "Hey, Kory, have you met Dick?"

Dick turned back around to face them, praying that his cheeks would remain pale.

There she was, unintentionally being perfect yet again. Her white graduation robes made her look like an angel instead of a fairy this time, he thought. He shot a hand into the air and offered a brief wave, even though the two of them stood barely ten feet apart from each other. The gesture made her smile.

"We have spoken a couple of times." She responded. "It is nice to see you again, Dick."

"Yeah, uh...you too."

No more words came to front of his mind, and they all stood there, silently, unsure of where the conversation had trailed off to. In the distance, the sound of someone testing a microphone on the stage could be heard, and Kory placed a hand on Donna's shoulder.

"I was supposed to inform you that we must take our seats. They wish to start the ceremony soon."

"Alright." Donna said, and the two of them started to take off. "I'll see you guys there! Have fun with your disco pizza party!"

Victor and Garfield laughed, but Dick was nitpicking his conversational skills in his head.

"Bro, what was that about?" Garfield asked once the others had left, raising an eyebrow at Dick, who raised his in response.

"What was what about?"

Garfield exchanged a smirk with Victor.

"Nothin'. There was nothin' weird about any of that just now."

Dick rolled his eyes and began to walk in the direction of the crowd.

"Hey! It's not our fault we're not oblivious!" Garfield said, as he and Victor trailed alongside Dick as he walked. "I won't tell anyone about your cute school girl crush."

"Did you catch him starin' at her with those googly eyes?"

"Our little man's all grown up!"

Dick was beginning to wish he had just opted to stick by Bruce and deal with the paparazzi.

 

/ / /

 

"Let's all give a warm welcome to this year's valedictorian."

Everyone clapped as a cheerful blonde girl made her way onto the podium on stage. Her name had been mentioned not very long ago, but Kory didn't know who she was, nor was she paying attention to what was going on.

She clapped along with the others, but she wasn't sure what they were clapping for. Her head was down, her vision was situated on the diploma resting in her lap. This was something she had been looking forward to for such a long time, but now it seemed...pointless. It was a rolled up piece of paper tied with a pretty red bow, that was it. The more she looked at it, the more disillusioned she became with this entire experience.

The clapping died down, so she stopped, as well. The student on stage was situating herself at the microphone. Kory continued to stare at her lap.

"My fellow graduates, it's an honor to be presenting here in front of you all. This year was full of surprising new adventures for us, although I think some of you might use a different word to describe our plane trip to D.C."

Laughter arose from where the seniors sat together. Kory bit her lip. She hadn't gotten to attend the D.C. Field trip because she was recovering from a cold at the time.

"Over the last four years, we've learned more than we possibly could have imagined."

Why hadn't they shown up? Her fingers were trembling slightly as they traced the ribbon on her diploma. This was past being late, it was certain they wouldn't be arriving by now, but why? They knew how important this was for her. They knew how much time and effort she had put into studying twice as hard as she normally would just to get an American diploma.

"For example, we learned that surveying the DJ's song list is a crucial part of making sure prom goes the way it was planned."

More laughter. Kory understood the joke this time, but her thoughts were somewhere else entirely. Did her family not want to spend time together as much as she wanted them to? Was something she was doing disappointing them?

"More so, we learned valuable lessons that are sure to get us far in life. I'd like to take a few moments to talk about our achievements, and some of the people we have to thank for helping to get us to where we are now."

When Kim had graduated three years ago, Kory called her to congratulate her and say how she wished she could be there to see it. Where had that gotten her now? Kim barely even talked to her anymore, and when she did their conversations consisted of spewing insults back and forth until one of them left. She had never been particularly close with her sister, but had she not always attempted to support her? Where was  _her_  support?

"We held a fundraiser for homecoming back in ninth grade that turned out to be an overwhelming success, and we couldn't have done it without putting our heads together and working as a team."

Kory fought hard to hold back tears. This wasn't the place to cry, but she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to help it. When she had moved back in with her mother and her sister after such a long time apart, she figured everyone would snap back into being a family again, but it had been a dysfunctional transition at best. Her parents spent more time together than they did with her or her siblings, and even when everyone was home she often felt like she was being ignored. The only one of them who showed a constant interest in being around her was Ryan, and he wasn't even old enough to drive yet, so he couldn't have come here on his own. She wished he could have.

"In tenth grade I was encouraged to pursue a passion of mine by my wonderful English teacher, Mrs. Collins. Without her encouragement, I wouldn't have had the courage to continue writing and I wouldn't have been given the opportunity to work on the school newspaper alongside some of my best friends."

Maybe it was a good thing her family decided not to show up, she thought, as she bunched up some of the cloth from her robe sleeve in frustration.

"Nothing we accomplish is done alone. We need support from others to help us get where we're supposed to be."

Maybe this was an opportunity in disguise.

"All of us are sitting here today because we are a team, and we worked together to reach our goal. We are lovers of knowledge, of art, of sports, and of so much more."

She swallowed hard as her mind began to wander, tempting her with thoughts of freedom.  _Real_ freedom, not this piece of paper in her lap.

"We are the class of 2015, and these are the years of our lives that pave the road to a bright future."

She could rent an apartment for herself, she could get away from it all. She had the money. Well, she had  _most_ of the money. It wouldn't take that long to find a quick job and make the rest of what she needed. Wasn't that what this whole day was about, anyways? Becoming an adult? Shaping your future?

"Soon we'll be signing yearbooks and saying our goodbyes. Some of us will stay together, and some of us will part ways, but we'll all be doing our best."

Kory finally lifted her head, taking a look at the clear, blue sky, and she suddenly she felt hopeful. This could be the first day of the rest of her life.

"Thank you all for everything you've done over the years, and congratulations."

Applause was erupting all around her, but this time Kory didn't clap.

Her mind was off in the clouds.

 

/ / /

 

When her mother's car finally arrived at the school parking lot, it was nearly six in the evening. Kory had slipped her robe off and removed her cap, placing them inside the messenger bag she had brought with her, and donned the casual attire she had worn underneath it.

She spotted the car in the lot, which was almost entirely empty by now, and walked over to the front door, her body fuming with fury.

" _So, were you planning on coming to pick me up at all or was I expected to walk the entire way home from my graduation?"_ She spoke fast, in Spanish, as she sat down and slammed the door shut.

"Kory, darling, please try to practice your Engli-"

" _I will not have you try to dictate the way I speak when you didn't even call to let me know that nobody would be here!"_

Her mother sighed, placing her fingers between her nose for a second before starting the drive back home.  _"We barely had much of a choice, Kory."_ She said, looking annoyed.  _"We didn't expect that this would happen today, so suddenly-"_

" _That what would happen? I have not even received a single word of why I was by myself today!"_

" _Kim...was arrested. A bail was posted for her release, and we had to take care of it. I don't know what else to tell you."_

Kory was stunned, and...insulted. How dare her sister be so reckless when she knew how important this day was. How could she be so narcissistic?  _"She was arrested?"_

" _Yes."_ Her mother replied, followed by silence. She seemingly hoped that would be the end of the conversation.

" _My sister was arrested and nobody thought to tell me?"_ Kory asked, her voice growing in volume.

" _We didn't have the time. It was all very sudden."_

" _You already said that!"_ Kory sat back in her seat, feeling defeated.

" _We got the call about it as we were leaving the house. We had to go to the bank to get the money, and fill out paperwork for her release...she was intoxicated, and she was with these...troublemakers. Kory, it was very upsetting. We couldn't go, we didn't have the time. I'm sorry. I don't know what else to tell you."_

Her daughter offered no response, so the remainder of the ride home was spent without further conversation on the subject. When they arrived, Kory grabbed her belongings and marched straight to her room, ignoring her father in the living room, who had tried to say something she hadn't heard.

She closed the bedroom door and dropped her bag onto the floor, staring at the figure who was sprawled out on one of the twin beds.

Kim's black hair was tangled, the lipstick she had applied earlier that morning was smudged and her eyeliner was a smokey mess. She didn't acknowledge her sister's presence, so Kory cleared her throat loudly, prompting Kim to raise her head.

The two looked at each other for a short while before Kim spoke.

"What do you want?"

Kory didn't even know where to begin. "I wanted to have a good day. That is what I want."

Kim snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Why would you be so thoughtless, and selfish? Am I truly this much of a..." She paused, struggling to find the right phrase. "...a second thought to you?"

Her sister groaned, getting up from her bed now and walking up to the other. "Oh my  _God_ , Kory, you're eighteen! I'm twenty-one! We're grown-ups, start acting like one."

"Is it childish to not want to be left out? Is it childish to want my family to be together?"

"Yeah! It is!" Kim responded. "Listen, okay? I'll say it nice and slow for you." She leaned in closer to Kory's face, speaking in a much slower tone than before. "I don't care about your school. I don't care about your happy little celebration."

Kory backed away. Each word out of Kim's mouth felt like a dagger to her chest.

"I've got friends. I'm doing my own thing. I don't need you, and I certainly don't need to do anything for you."

Kory was speechless. The tears she pushed back earlier resurfaced, and this time she couldn't prevent them from spilling onto her cheeks. Kim's eyes rolled at the sight of this, and she grabbed her cell phone before leaving the room.

She heard the front door to the house shut.

Who knows where she would be going this time.

Wiping the tears away from her face, she stood alone with her thoughts in the middle of the room.

If she was going to do this, now was the time to start putting things into motion.

She turned towards her closet, digging through clothes until she found an average sized luggage bag. Placing it on her bed, she began to pick out things that she wore regularly and fold them neatly into the bag. Once she had a reasonable amount of clothes packed into it, she went to the edge table next to her bed and gathered all her makeup and accessories, placing those in a zip-up compartment on the top of the luggage.

Then, she closed the bag and moved it onto the floor, and slowly flipped up the mattress of her bed to reveal the small bit of money she had earned from jobs over the summer. When she held the stack in her hands, she frowned. It wasn't much, but it would have to be enough to get her started.

"Kory?"

The sudden sound startled her, and she accidentally dropped the mattress back onto her bed frame, then looked towards the door.

" _Ryan, do not let them know."_

Her brother studied the luggage on the floor, and the money in Kory's hands. A look of fear washed over his face.  _"What are you doing?"_

" _I..."_ Kory's breaths grew shorter. She was nervous.  _"...I am leaving. Not right now, tonight. When they are all asleep."_

" _Why?"_ Ryan asked, keeping his voice low, but there was a certain element of panic mixed into it.  _"Is it because of Kim?"_

" _No...yes. She is part of it."_ Kory tucked her money away into a wallet, which she then placed in her messenger bag.  _"There are many reasons, Ry. I cannot continue on like this. Please understand."_ She was beginning to tear up again.  _"I'm so sorry."_

Ryan seemed emotional as well, but whatever he was experiencing, he bottled up in front of her. Instead, he walked over to her and wrapped her in a long hug.

" _I won't tell."_

" _Thank you."_ Kory said, her voice cracking from crying, as she pulled away and continued arranging her things. Before Ryan left the room, she remembered one thing.  _"Ry, wait."_

He turned around.

" _When I'm gone...please let them know I'm safe. Mother and father."_

Ryan nodded, went back to his room, and closed the door.

 

/ / /

 

It was two in the morning.

Dick held a flashlight in front of his face as he quickly shoved belongings into his backpack. A separate bag of luggage lay beside him, containing a fair amount of clothes and toiletries.

He had a sort of adrenaline rush coming over him as he closed the backpack and put it on. He had to keep reminding himself that this was real, and he was really going through with this.

He double checked to make sure that his wallet had all his necessary cards and identification, grabbed his luggage, closed his bedroom door as quietly as he could, and began his long trip of tip-toeing through the manor in the dark.

The main stairwell leading to the foyer creaked as he stepped on it, and the paranoia creeping in the back of his head made him stop and make sure nobody had woken up. In reality, he wouldn't have been surprised if both Bruce and Alfred were actually awake, but they were always so wrapped up in their work that even if they were they probably wouldn't notice him, anyways.

Or so he hoped.

His speed increased slowly once he was near the front of the manor. The main doors were large and always slightly noisy, so once he arrived there he closed them as fast as he could and practically ran for the garage.

The garage door opened with the click of a button, and then he was there.

His freedom.

His beautiful, beautiful car.

Throwing the luggage and his backpack in the back seat, he got in and closed the door.

The grin on his face grew as he drove out of Wayne Manor as fast as he could legally go. The engine was roaring as he zoomed away from the property and made it out onto the main road, and he knew that if the others hadn't been awake before, they would be now.

Rolling the windows down, he let the warm late spring air hit his face as he headed near the first highway he could find.

There was something strangely calm about driving when he had no idea where he was going to go. For tonight, the moon would be his compass.

Street lights and neon signs blurred past him as he drove, looking like colorful shooting stars against the pitch black night. He felt invincible. He felt alive.

Soon, though, his adrenaline rush began to wear off, and his eyes grew tired from lack of sleep. One thing he hadn't considered when choosing to leave home in the middle of the night. The first highway exit was close, but he wasn't confident in how much longer he could drive before he crashed, so he stayed on the main road and tried to find somewhere he could bunk for the night.

If he remembered correctly, there should have been a Gotham Express Inn somewhere in his general area. Maybe around the next corner?

He made a left. Not there yet.

Right. Still not there.

He took one more right.

Was he lost?

The road only went straight for a while, so that's where he drove.

He slowed his car so he could get a good look at the buildings to the side of him. Not yet...not there...

...Was that a person on the right?

Who in their right mind would walk around a sketchy area like this at nearly three in the morning?

As he drove further, the person become more and more clear. Looked like...a girl, with a luggage bag?

Dick squinted to get a better look.

He froze.

Bright red hair, purple boots, a belt with green jewels on it.

He cautiously drove next to the figure, still unsure if this was some kind of sleepy hallucination. Leaning over to the passenger side, he noticed streaks of bright orange hair popping out from underneath the mass of wavy red. His car stopped.

"...Kory?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW okay, I am super glad to finally be finished with this chapter lol! I've been working on it for a week, and I knew it was gonna be pretty long by my writing standards going into it, but, wow. That was exhausting. Haha.
> 
> Anyways, this is kind of where the main story starts, so that's exciting! I hope you guys are enjoying it so far! (My writing got kinda sloppy near the end, I apologize, it's 4:30 am right now and I've been writing for 5 hours straight)
> 
> Some things I wanted to point out about the characters! Ryan and Kim are based off of Starfire's siblings in the comics, Komand'r (Blackfire, she was in the cartoon too obviously) and Ryand'r (Wildfire). Since they don't have "human aliases" like Star does as Kory or Kori Anders, I just kind of made up some human alternatives for their names since this is a non-superhero au. I hope it's not too confusing or anything. I also wanted to point out real quick that when I write Kory or her family's dialogue in italics, that means they're speaking Spanish. I wanted them to be able to go back and forth between languages but still have non-Spanish speaking people (such as myself lol) be able to understand what they're saying. So, uh, yeah! Please tell me what you think if you enjoyed it! Oh, also, I wanted to take a second to thank all the people who have left favorites/kudos/reviews so far. Thank you sooo so much! You brighten up my day with your feedback and it makes me so happy to think that somebody enjoys my silly writing.
> 
> I'm gonna try to update this at least once a week, so keep a look-out for that!
> 
> \- Maya


	3. Chapter 3

Kory held her head down, keeping her eyes focused on her shoes as she walked further on the Downtown Gotham sidewalk. The ground was somewhat illuminated by broken street lamps lining the pathway, flickering on and off, reminding her of how lost she had become since she had been dropped off in the area.

She clutched her luggage bag tight as it wheeled alongside her, taking deep breaths and attempting to prevent tears from spilling onto her cheeks. Every few minutes she looked up, hoping she would eventually be able to locate where she was if she recognized a building, but everything here looked the same; run down, mysterious, and scary. Some buildings had brightly colored neon signs that were still turned on despite the late hour, and she contemplated stopping at some of them to try and find a place to stay for the night, but decided against it every time.

Her heart wouldn't stop racing. She felt trapped. As much as she began to regret leaving home in such a hurry, the last thing she wanted to do was turn back now.

Suddenly, her movement halted, and a shiver ran down her spine. Behind her, but approaching steadily, she heard the sound of car tires rolling on the road. A voice in the back of her head told her to begin walking, sprinting, running, but her legs disobeyed the command. Her chest grew heavy with anxiety as she listened to the vehicle come to a stop directly to her left, and she bit her lip.

“...Kory?”

“Whatever you are offering, I am entirely not interested, so please, just-” She stopped, and nearly felt her heart stop, as well, after the realization of hearing her name spoken. Her head lifted, and she turned to look at the car with an expression of deep confusion contorting her face. Unable to see properly in the dim lighting, her eyes squinted, and she took a few steps towards the curb to confirm her suspicions. “Dick?” She shook her head, not understanding what was happening. “What are you...why are you here?”

“I, uh...” The boy paused, seemingly as disoriented as she was. “It's not important. What are _you_ doing here?”

Kory struggled to form a coherent sentence, partly from her state of disbelief and partly because she had yet to sleep. “I...escaped from my home.” She paused. Escape wasn't really the word she was looking for. “Um...traveling some place else.” She pointed a finger to her luggage, hoping that would help get the correct point across.

“You're running away?”

She nodded.

“But...you live near the suburbs, right?” Dick continued to question her, seemingly becoming more concerned as he did so. “How long have you been out here?”

Kory shrugged in response. Her acquaintance sighed and glanced down at the passenger seat of his car, picking up a backpack that had been placed there and moving it to the backseat, instead.

“This isn't a safe place to be hanging around at night. Trust me.” He said. “I'd feel a lot better if you let me give you a ride. There's a motel I know of not too far from here and I've gotta stop and rest soon, I've been driving for a while.” He seemed hesitant, but continued talking anyways. “At least let me drive you there.”

A part of her wanted to argue, to make some bold speech thanking him for the offer yet insisting that she wished to continue her journey alone, but the common sense side of her brain screamed at her to accept the ride. It was becoming too late for her to act recklessly anymore, and she knew that if she denied this, she wouldn't get another chance to stop and take a break. Besides, Dick was someone she knew from school, sort of. Better to carpool with a classmate her own age than a sketchy stranger. She sighed, giving a slight nod before climbing into the empty passenger seat. It didn't hurt that he drove a nice car, either.

“You can leave your bag in the back, if you want.” Dick said, offering a smile, but Kory's exhaustion levels prohibited her from performing the action of tossing her luggage onto the backseat. Instead, she shrugged again, and Dick took that as his cue to start driving.

Neither of them tried to initiate further conversation for a minute or two. Kory took this opportunity to glance out of the window, and decided that she was much more content sitting down than trudging along the sidewalk as she had been doing before. The occasional streaks of color that ran past her view as they passed various shops that were still open looked much prettier from inside of the vehicle. Parts of Downtown Gotham were actually very visually pleasing, regardless of how shady the area was.

“Um-”

Kory blinked, turning to face Dick as she snapped out of her sleepy haze.

“I don't wanna pry or anything, so you don't have to talk to me if you don't want to,” He said softly, keeping his eyes on the road ahead of him as he spoke. “but how _did_ you end up over here? Did you really walk all that way from your house?”

“No.” Kory replied, as she nervously traced her fingers over the green jewel in the center of the belt she wore. “I did walk for a while, but I was dropped off in the Downtown area not long before you appeared. A man told me he could drive me away from the city, but...” She sighed. “I do not know. I did not trust him completely, something about him gave me an uneasy feeling in my stomach. He was asking me a lot of questions about myself and it was making me nervous, so I told him I would prefer if he let me walk instead, and he seemed...offended, or angry, I suppose. He left me there and drove away very fast.”

Dick's body stiffened anxiously. He swallowed before speaking again. “I'm sorry, that sucks. You should try to be more careful about hitchhiking around here, not everybody is like that guy.”

“Hitchhiking?”

“Yeah, uh...that's the word for doing that, getting a ride from somebody you don't know.”

“Oh.” Kory considered the word, fiddling with the handle of her luggage now instead of the jewel on her belt. “...May I ask what you were doing around that place, as well?”

“I was actually kind of doing the same thing you were. I decided to leave home.”

“Oh.” Kory said again. “Why?”

Dick contemplated his answer. “A lot of reasons. I feel like I'm mature enough to be on my own now, you know?”

Kory nodded, though she was having a difficult time paying attention due to her general fatigue. When she didn't respond, Dick cleared his throat.

“Anyways, we're almost at the motel.” He said, stealing a quick glance at his passenger while she was looking away. She looked absolutely exhausted, and seemed like she was struggling to keep her eyes open, and yet she still managed to make his face burn up when he looked at her. This all felt like a dream to him, like he was going to close his eyes and awaken back in his room at the Manor with Alfred asking him what he wanted for breakfast. “Sorry if I bothered you at all, I was kinda hoping I'd be able to stay awake if I kept talking.”

“You are not bothering me.”

The car came to a stop in a parking lot not a minute later, and neither of them were sure that they possessed enough energy to get up. Ultimately, Dick left first, retrieving his backpack and luggage bag out of the back before Kory found the strength to open her door. They walked together in silence up to the main entrance of the motel, which certainly wasn't anything to get excited over, but it would suffice for an overnight stay.

Inside the building, a bored looking woman slouched over the check-in desk and barely lifted her head to acknowledge the pair when they stood in front of her. She had a name tag on her shirt that stated her name was Cindy. Her eyes were glued to a small television set that was attached to the ceiling on the far right of the lobby, and Dick had to clear his throat a few times before she brought her attention to himself and Kory.

“Can I help you?” Cindy asked, unenthusiastically, as she straightened her posture in her chair.

“Yeah.” Dick said, taking out his wallet and presenting her with a credit card in his name. “I'd like to book two rooms for an overnight stay.”

Kory shifted uncomfortably. “You do not need to spend the extra money on me.” She said, in a whisper. “I do not feel right making you pay for a room of my own-”

“Nah, don't worry about it. ” He protested. Cindy tapped her manicured nails on the counter, waiting for him to put his ID on the desk, as well, which he did.

“At least allow me to pay for it.”

“Honestly, Kory, I don't mind.” He insisted, as Cindy handed him his cards back and began looking around the inside of the desk for the room keys. “You don't have to pay me back or anything, this is on me.”

Kory smiled slightly, still feeling like she should chip something in, but refusing to argue further. “Thank you.”

Her smile proved to be infectious, as Dick found himself returning the gesture right back at her.

“Alright, you've got room fifteen,” Cindy placed a key in front of Dick, then placed another in front of Kory. “and you've got room fourteen. Wi-fi's free, the password is 'Gotham 10'. Complimentary breakfast is held in that room to the left,” She paused, pointing out the doors. “from six in the morning to noon. We hope you enjoy your stay.”

They each took their room keys and headed towards the hallway at the back of the room, practically staggering from lethargy. Kory began to wonder if she would have to continue to do this much walking everyday from now on. She silently decided that wherever she was going to live would need to be near public transportation if she was going to make her way anywhere.

After what seemed like an eternity, the two found their rooms for the night across the hall from each other. Room fifteen had no tag on the door, and the number was written in bright red permanent marker instead. Dick pondered for a moment if perhaps he should have put more effort into finding a better hotel. Reluctantly, he swiped his key card into the door handle and opened it, half expecting a horror movie villain to jump out at him, or a mysterious substance to begin oozing from the walls.

“Dick?”

He turned around, keeping his hand on the handle.

“Thank you, for all you have done tonight.” Kory said, quietly.

Unsure how to respond, he nodded, and they both promptly disappeared into their rooms.

 

/ / /

 

Rock music blared from an unknown source, jolting him out of his slumber. Without yet opening his eyes, his hands reached frantically for the clock on the nightside table beside his bed. Where was the off switch on this thing? More importantly, what was that tickling his leg?

He sat up, rubbing his eyes and remembering that he hadn't fallen asleep in his home last night. Throwing the bed covers off of himself, he noticed the culprit behind the tickling; a bug. A big, brown bug with _lots_ of tiny brown legs.

Letting out a surprised yelp, his hands once again flailed around himself, this time in an attempt to fling the disgusting creature away, but managed to instead bang the surface of the nightside table. The music stopped, and he yelped again from pain, bringing his numb fingers up to his face.

“...Hello? _Hello?_ ”

The faint sound of a woman's voice was calling from next to him, and he only just now realized that the rock music had been his cell phone's ringtone, not an alarm. Reaching over to grab his phone from the table, he brought it to his ear.

“...Hi?”

“Dick?” The voice asked. She was obviously waiting for him to recognize her, but he was still trying to fully awaken, and he didn't. “It's Barbara.”

“Oh. Sorry.” He said, rubbing his head and forcing himself out of the bed. The bug that had previously been caressing his leg was now quickly crawling around the carpet, and his whole body shivered at the sight. “I just woke up.”

“Where are you?”

“In Gotham.”

“I figured.” Barbara replied. He thought he heard other voices in the background, but he didn't ask. “I told Bruce you wouldn't be able to get very far so late at night.”

“You're with Bruce?”

“Yeah. He called my dad and I when he woke up around an hour ago.”

Dick moved over to his luggage, taking out a fresh change of clothes and laying them out on the bed. “Why?”

“He thought I might know where you were. He was worried about you. I mean, he didn't say that, but it was pretty obvious.”

“He was worried?” Dick echoed, stepping into a pair of jeans.

“Totally. He was pacing when we got here.”

Dick continued to get dressed as she spoke, holding the cell phone against his cheek and pulling a black t-shirt over his head.

“I mean, from what he was saying, he kind of has a right to be worried. It sounds like you got out of here really suddenly.”

“Suddenly to him, maybe.” He mumbled.

“And to me, and Alfred.” Barbara stated. “And to the rest of your friends, probably. Did you even tell anyone you were leaving?”

“No.” Dick said, sitting down to tie his sneakers. “I didn't have to tell anyone, I'm eighteen. I can leave if I want.”

“Yeah, you can, but you can't really believe that nobody's going to notice you're gone, Dick.” There was a pause, neither of them knew quite what to say next. He heard her sigh. “Listen, I'm not telling you to come back or anything, I'm just making sure you're, like, alive.”

“I'm alive.”

“Just be safe, okay? Wherever you're going.”

“I will, Babs. I promise.”

“Alright. I've gotta go reassure Bruce that you're not being held hostage.” Barbara said, jokingly, and Dick chuckled at the remark. “Talk to you later.”

“See ya.”

He ended the call, hearing his stomach grumble. A glance down at his phone's lock screen told him the current time was 7:30 AM. Deciding he was going to go check out the complementary breakfast, he put his backpack on his back and grabbed his luggage bag, making sure he wasn't leaving anything else behind in the room.

As he walked down the hall towards the lobby, he couldn't help but feel guilt creeping up from the pit of his chest. Another side of him disagreed; why should he feel guilty? With all the arguments and heated discussions that he and Bruce shared from time to time, he had to know this was bound to happen. Had his guardian really expected that Dick was going to stay at the Wayne Manor forever and mold himself into the perfect, proper son for all the tabloids to report about? He needed his own identity apart from his adoptive entrepreneur father's.

Of course he would bring Barbara and the Commissioner into their personal problems, too. The guilt he felt quickly turned into something else. Frustration? Anger? His face was beginning to turn red as a result of his mixed emotions, and the breakfast room was drawing closer. What was it going to take to show Bruce that he wasn't a child anymore? That he didn't need anybody watching over him?

This had to happen. He had to prove himself to Bruce, he _had_ to.

He stood in front of his destination, feeling more confident than ever as he opened the doors, and--

\--and there was Kory, sitting by herself at a small, round table in the middle of the room, and now nothing he had been thinking about was important anymore. There was a half-eaten plate of pancakes drenched in maple syrup before her. She lowered the fork in her hand to grab a chunk of the treat, then raised it to her lips, which were glossy, and tinted dark red. Her fiery hair was pulled up into a bun, while two wavy sections of it remained down and fell to her collarbone. Today, though, only her shirt, which had short sleeves and started at her shoulders, was purple. The rest of her outfit was composed of black shorts, a necklace with a green gem that hung low on her chest, and a pair of black sneakers.

His legs felt like spaghetti. If he didn't get his food quickly, he was going to embarrass himself.

Hoping that her focus was planted on her pancakes, he snuck around the area where she sat and gathered a plate full of his own breakfast. For what proved to be a crappy motel, they had a surprisingly nice array of breakfast food to choose from, and he opted for a cinnamon raisin bagel with a glass of milk, picking up some cream cheese while he was there, as well. Now that he had his plate, he turned around, once again distracted by the good looks of his acquaintance. Would it be weird if he sat down at her table, or would it be more odd if he deliberately picked a different place to eat?

Not entirely sure of himself, he slowly made his way to the table where Kory sat. Before he could change his mind or bring his breakfast back into his room, she turned her head, catching a glimpse at him, and a bright smile appeared on her clean, well-rested face.

“Dick!” She called out, pointing to a chair across from where she sat at her table. “Come sit.”

Feeling slightly less awkward about the situation now that he was invited to eat with her, he obeyed, sitting at the empty chair and placing his plate on the surface in front of him.

“I feel I must properly thank you for helping me.” She said, putting another piece of her pancake into her mouth. Something about watching her eat was making him flustered, so he looked down and began to spread cream cheese onto his bagel.

“It was no problem. I'm glad I could help.”

He wasn't sure what else to say, and she seemed pretty content finishing the rest of her food, so he let her be for a bit while he began eating. The breakfast in this place was good, but he made a mental note to try and find a more quality hotel the next time he needed somewhere to stay. He glanced up at Kory, who was nearly done with her food, and wondered if she had as dysfunctional of an experience trying to get to sleep last night. Most likely not, she seemed like she was in a much better mood than he was. Although, being able to spend this short while with her was already starting to cheer him up.

She yawned, stretching her arms out to her sides. “Dick,” She said, pushing her now empty plate to the side of the table. “Do you ever get a feeling about a specific thing?”

He put his bagel down. “Yeah. I do.”

“I have a feeling about today. I think it is going to be positive. More positive than my previous day.”

“That's good.” Dick responded, taking a sip of his milk.

There was another brief silence between the two of them, and Dick used the time to try and complete the rest of his food.

“May I ask you another question?”

He brought his attention back to her, trying hard not to stare. “Sure.”

“I have a friend that I met here, after I moved. Her name is Raven.” Kory began, picking a strand of her crimson hair and twirling it around her finger. “She believes in many things I was not entirely familiar with before I met her. Once, she described to me how she thought that there is a...” She waved her hands around in the air above her head. “...a type of power in the universe that determines how everything will happen...fate, I think that is the word she used.” She smiled. “Do you believe in the fate?”

Dick nearly choked on a piece of the bagel he was now desperately trying to finish eating. “Uh,” He coughed, drinking the last of his milk. “I don't know. I don't think...a lot. Um, about _that_ , a lot, I mean-”

Kory laughed. “It is all right.” She rested her face on one of her hands, which was leaning on the edge of the table. “I am not entirely sure I believe in it, but it is an enjoyable thought to me at times.”

She sighed, though her smile still remained on her face, and Dick stared into his empty plate, somewhat studying his reflection on the shiny surface. A moment later, Kory stood from her chair, looking down at her luggage, which she had brought into the room with her.

“I should leave soon, if I am to be traveling again today.”

Dick stood up, as well, brushing some crumbs off of his shirt. “Yeah, I guess I should, too. I'll check us both out of our rooms.”

He adjusted the strap of his backpack and headed towards the lobby once more, but turned to face Kory again halfway to the door.

“Where are you headed, if you don't mind me asking?”

She opened her mouth as if to speak, but ended up closing it without generating a response. “I...am not sure.” She looked down, feeling slightly embarrassed. “Honestly, I had not expected to make it this far away without returning back to my home.”

“Oh.”

“...What about you?”

“I, uh, hadn't really thought out a plan, either.” Dick said, quickly running a hand through his hair. “In the long run, I was kind of thinking about California.”

Kory's eyes, which were no longer facing her feet, seemed to sparkle with curiosity. “California.” She repeated, then quietly mumbled the word “ _emocionante_ ” to herself. “Well,” She said, clutching onto the handle of her luggage. “I will be seeing you another time, then, Dick.”

“See you around.” Dick said, walking closer to the door, but once again stopped when his hand touched the handle. “Kory?”

She still remained standing in the same spot, and lifted her eyebrows at the mention of her name.

“...If you don't know where you're going, you're, uh,” He cleared his throat. “you're welcome to join me. If you want to.”

The question didn't seem to register in her mind at first, but after a minute of thought, her head nodded softly, and she made her way over to him, her luggage wheeling behind her. “California.” She said, for a second time, as they left the breakfast room. “It is warm there, right?”

“Yeah.” Dick said, unable to control the goofy grin spreading onto his face. “It's usually pretty warm.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, okay, first of all, I'm super sorry that it took me, like, three weeks to crank this thing out. And I always seem to get kind of weak with my writing towards the end of a chapter, I'm not entirely sure how to fix that yet, haha. Hopefully you guys don't mind too much. 
> 
> Also, Barbara is here! I couldn't help myself from including her somewhere, I love her character. In this AU, she's a couple years older than Dick, and they've known each other since Bruce became his guardian when he was a kid because she and her father (Jim Gordon) are friends of Bruce's. She's a good friend of his, kind of like a big sister. She likes to look out for him.
> 
> Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long to publish, but I can't make any promises. I've got multiple commitments IRL on a weekly basis that take up some of my free time, amongst other things, so I'll update when I can! As always, lemme know if you're enjoying the fic so far. I love hearing your feedback! 
> 
> \- Maya


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